Going from three girls to 16 might sound like a small feat, but this is the first time in school history the girls have a full wrestling team. The team was established two seasons ago, with enthusiastic members, but a lack in overall numbers.

Two coaches help lead the team, Katrina Eggum and Gabby Torger, which is a huge time commitment. The team meets for practices everyday and attends meets or tournaments on the weekends or during the school day.

The team practices in the wrestling gym, sharing it with the boys team. The boys wrestling team is around three times the size with six coaches to help individual wrestlers. They have had their wrestling program for decades and coaches who have been at the high school for years.

Freshman Peyton Surgenor said at youth practices they just covered basic skills. The boy team has wrestled longer and “do more complicated drills, we learn more.”

In past years, the girls wrestling team has performed phenomenally despite the lack of a team. Last year, freshman Audrey Rogotzke was awarded official state champion, as well as freshman Bianca Eide being a state finalist.

“I think it pushes them in all aspects of life, what wrestling teaches you. Never stop, wrestle through things, a match isn’t over until it’s over,” Eggum said.

The coaches really push the idea of putting all their effort into training, even if they do not see any immediate improvement. If athletes start to give up on their goals and put in less effort, coaches know how to help them. Sometimes they will talk to the whole team about habits they need to fix, like giving too much attention to their phones, or they will point out individual mistakes wrestlers made on that everybody can learn from. Keeping every girl motivated to continue moving towards their goals, is a major part of what the coaches do.

“[Eggum] is always pushing me and she knows my goals and how to achieve them. She never lets me get comfortable where I am. She always is trying to push me to the next level,” sophomore wrestler Bianca Eide explained.

One of the main reasons there is a girls wrestling team, stems from the youth program. Eggum has been training the youth wrestlers for years, taking time to develop the skills of middle and elementary kids. Many of the current high school wrestlers underwent the training in this program which sparked their passion for the sport.  Eggum loves the girls on her team, not just because they are enthusiastic about wrestling, but because she has watched them grow up through the wrestling program.

The motivation that keeps Eggum coming back each day is the girls, she loves them Eggum explained.

Many of the girls use wrestling to stay fit during their off seasons, practicing everyday, undergoing full body conditioning and even working gymnastics into their warm ups, wrestling keeps everybody in extremely good shape. However, despite training on the off-season the girls are still extremely motivated towards wrestling, not thinking of it as merely a training program.

“What keeps me motivated is seeing how much I’ve improved. I see all the small improvements I’ve already made and, I think, if I stick with it, I can be better,” Surgenor said.